Bethesda’s new property: online co-op dungeon crawler a-hoy!

The Hunted: Demon's Forge is Bethesda's upcoming dungeon crawler, developed by …

When Bethesda tells you it has a new IP to reveal at a show like GDC, you clear your schedule. During the show, the company camped out in a suite with small sign taped to the door, and we were asked to keep the very existence of the meeting under our hat until the embargo was up. Luckily, we're now able to tell about the publisher's newest game: developed by inXile, published by Bethesda, it's coming to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, it will be out "when it's done," and it's a two-player co-op dungeon crawler called Hunted: The Demon's Forge.

Coming out of the tradition of Dungeons and Dragons and multiplayer MUDs, Hunted is a two-player co-op game focusing on a pair of heroes: E'lara and Caddoc. E'lara specializes in ranged weapons, while Caddoc prefers to wade in with his melee weapons. They look how you'd expect: a very attractive female and a muscular hulk. (Remember kids: the best armor for females in video games is something that shows as much skin as possible.)

The two players that control these characters are able to play with each other online. No split-screen, as the team wanted to keep up a certain level of graphical performance. The game has been in development for two years, and the work is easy to see: it looks beautiful, with detailed weapons and enemies. The environments are likewise large in scale. While this is a dungeon crawl, be prepared for some sweeping vistas and epic set pieces.

The perspective is third-person, and co-op finds its way into every aspect of gameplay. You'll be able to carry three potions to resurrect your partner and, in a nice twist, you can see them on your belt; you visually know how reckless or tight you have to play the game. You can throw these vials across the level as well... if you can see your downed comrade, you can rescue them. Both characters are able to use magic to buff the other, and we had the chance to see this in action during a boss fight. Caddoc used his strength to hold down a weakened monster so that E'lara could shoot an arrow into a weak spot to kill it.

Something that looks this good has to be short

You can have one of two things in most cases: a beautiful game, or a long game. We're told to expect length equal to the other action games we've been playing in the past year, which seems to be industry code for ten hours or less. But we're told there are many secrets and different ways to explore the backstory in the game, so the co-op the replay value should be high.

Co-op is handled in a few interesting ways. If you're playing with a friend, you can take over their second character, or import your own character. You can switch characters at each save point if you want to take turns playing as one or the other. You collect crystals in the world to level up, and any crystals you collect in a friend's game you can bring back to yours, meaning that you could end up with a very powerful character early in the game.

There are no limits to how or when you can join another game. That means you can jump to a friend's game when they're near the end and be underpowered, or take an advanced character into the beginning and walk through enemies.

You can change when you gain powers, but you can't become more powerful through multiple playthroughs. "Imagine each crystal in the game is numbered," we're told. "You can only collect each number one time. If you grab a crystal in a level with a friend, it won't be there when you reach that area yourself."

There will also be choices to be made, but don't expect simplistic moral choices. The game was described to us as a look at both sacrifice and addiction. "The choices you make won't be either good or bad, they'll go from bad to worse."

The power of secrets

The game supports different styles of play. You'll be able to slide straight through the story, or you can dig into the game's lore by talking to NPCs and interacting with the game's world. The team says secrets and bonuses are split 40-40-20. Forty percent anyone can find; 40 percent require some digging. The last 20 percent? You're going to need serious dedication.

Different styles of play are dealt with by the co-op system. If you have a buddy to play with it's no problem matching approaches, but finding someone online who wants to play the way you do? Forget about it. To combat this frustration, there is a complex match-making system in place. In fact, they researched dating sites to see how people were matched up.

The game measures everything when you play—how many secrets you find, your pacing, the people you talk to, how you level up, etc.—and creates a profile of your play style. If you like to immerse yourself in the setting and find all the clues and secrets, the matchmaking system will keep you away from players who want to do nothing but fight. If you're bloodthirsty, the game will match you with people into action and fighting.

When searching for others to play with, you can also set the game to request people who are into going slow and finding secrets, or who only want to play as Caddoc, or other details to make sure you get along. It seems like they're putting a lot of thought into online play and, for a game so heavily focused on co-op, that's a very good thing.

In conclusion

While the combat is in real time and some of the mechanics almost feels like Gears of War, the setting and characters are steeped in classic Dungeons and Dragons tradition. The combat also looks satisfying in the sections we saw; shields degrade and can be destroyed if you block heavy attacks, for example. The spells are interesting and can be leveled up. The voice acting and writing looked strong.

A hack and slash with graphics this good, focused on co-op, is a very good thing, especially coupled with a new IP. This will be one to watch.